in briefThe viral posts state that Anthony Albanese is becoming a "47 per cent silent partner" in startups and small businesses.Experts say the memes exaggerate the impact of the changes.AI-generated memes mocking the federal government's proposed capital gains tax reforms are spreading on social media as businesses fear how the changes could affect them.Startup founders and small business owners who have taken part in the trend say Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is becoming a "47 per cent silent partner" in their businesses due to the proposed restructure — something experts say is an overstatement. The viral campaign includes edited images of Albanese performing everyday business tasks such as serving customers, laying concrete, cooking pizzas, and stocking shelves. The captions suggest the government would take almost half of any profits from future business sales.Carlos Cordova has run a food business for almost a decade, and told SBS News: "All of our savings and holiday savings and little getaway savings have gone into the business.""We’re finding it harder to keep up, really. We’re finding it tough to stay ahead of the game."Cordova said he voted for Labor, thinking that the CGT changes wouldn't be made. He said he was "lied to" and "won't be voting Labor any time soon".Cordova took part in the AI meme trend, posting a fake image of himself with the prime minister on social media over the weekend."We would like to formally welcome our new business partner, Anthony Albanese," it reads.Memes containing fake images like this one, posted by business owner Carlos Cordova, were created with artificial intelligence. Source: Instagram"After Janet and I spent just under 8 years building Sur Direct from the ground up, the markets, the manufacturing, the sleepless nights, the risks, the sacrifices, we thought it only made sense to partner up and basically hand over 47% of the business."How will the changes work?This social media trend grew after last week's federal budget, when changes to CGT were announced. Labor had ruled out changes in the lead-up to last year's federal election.The government has proposed replacing Australia's long-standing 50 per cent capital gains tax discount with a new inflation-linked system. Under the proposed changes, some high-income earners could face tax rates of up to 47 per cent on certain capital gains.However, experts say the memes exaggerate the impact of the changes as the reforms apply to profits from the sale of assets, not to regular business income or daily profits. They also say many small businesses would still qualify for existing tax concessions.Independent economist Saul Eslake said the suggestion that reforms would somehow make the government or the prime minister a 47 per cent shareholder in every business is "completely fictitious"."What you pay capital gains tax on is the increase in the value of assets which you own when you sell them," he explained to SBS News."Under the changes the government is proposing, Australians will get relief from the impact of inflation on the cost base of those assets."And in fact, for many assets, including shares and units, the system of capital gains taxation which the government will be bringing into effect from one July next year is actually more concessional than the 50 per cent discount that's applied to capital gains since 1999 when it was changed by John Howard and Peter Costello," he said."That system has primarily benefited investors in houses whose prices have risen on average over the period since then by about 7.5 per cent a year, which is more than double the inflation rate, which has averaged just under 3 per cent per annum over that period."Cordova acknowledged that the social media campaign and 47 per cent figure were overblown for effect, but maintained that businesses like his are doing it tough."I would ask the government to support people that are wanting to get ahead, wanting to employ people and wanting to put Australia first," he said."Businesses are suffering and I think everyone else is as well."For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.